One more small batch of photos before I head to bed (it is currently 12:25am here). Here are few pictures that hardly do any justice to the beautiful land in Malaysia’s interior, as well as a couple pictures of where we stayed during our time there, and even a picture of one of the insects we encountered.

As per request, here are more pictures of our eating adventures. Included are pictures from our dining experience at “Krishna Fish-head Curry Restaurant” where we ate…well…fish head curry. There were many other enticing entrees including shrimp, chicken, lamb, squid, and even quail (of which Tim almost ate an entire flock of quail). We were then treated at the end of our meal with very delicious British tea.

There are also pictures of our Chinese meal tonight, which was a wonderful time of great food and fellowship. Among this group of pictures, one may notice a photo of Rebekah crying. This is due to a very hot pepper that she ate and apparently did not agree with since it left her in tears and sweat. “You only live once” was her motto before partaking of the pepper…

Here are a few pictures of our workshops at the Sabah Theological Seminary, there are more to come since I have not been able to upload the rest of the pictures from this time, so stay tuned. Included in this set of pictures you will notice Dr. Bradley smelling a Bible. This gesture may seem odd at first and you may think that the water is getting to us, but I assure you this picture embodies a romantic “awww” moment. Within this 30 year old Bible are letters from Mrs. Bradley and the scent of the letters has left its scent on the Bible so that when Dr. Bradley would smell his Bible, he would then be reminded of his wife back home. (He doesn’t know I put this up there but I thought Mrs. Bradley would appreciate it, just don’t tell him… – Matt)

Today we were blessed with the opportunity to peruse the Sabah Market. This was a wonderful chance to truly experience the culture here in some of its most honest forms as we saw hand-crafted items for sale and the food markets. We also were witness to one of the most beautiful sunsets over the ocean. God truly is remarkable in creating beautiful works.

Here are a couple pictures of Dr. Lim preaching this morning at the Chinese/English speaking Anglican Church we attended and offered a few of our songs for worship. It was a wonderful experience of personally seeing the extensive love for Christ – God’s global church Body.

What a great and amazing time we have had this weekend! On Saturday, we had our main workshop at the Sabah Theological Seminary. We taught nearly eighty people (ranging in age from 12-60) on such subjects as curating worship, vocal technique and health, traditional forms of worship, contemporary song leading, and choral conducting. The participants were very eager students and it was a joy to share, learn, and grow with them. The day ended with a worship service where each group presented some of what they learned during the day. The conducting group sang an anthem they had learned while several students led a responsorial prayer from the Taizé Community. Another team formed a small band and led a couple of songs while everyone sang. It was marvelous to join with them in worship and see how the people were encouraged and empowered to lead worship. We celebrated the great day by having dinner at an Indian restaurant downtown. We (well, some of us) enjoyed great dishes like lamb curry, fried calamari, cooked quail, fish head curry (complete with eyeballs), and several different vegetables like eggplant and green beans. We went to bed early that night because we had the privilege of attending worship at an Anglican church on Sunday morning where the first service is at 7:30 a.m.! We sang for several elements of the liturgy, such as the offertory and benediction, and our own Dr. Swee Hong Lim preached. We participated in two services, the first being in Chinese and the second in English. It was a humbling experience to worship with Christians from another culture and in a different language. God is so big! It is amazing to think that our time in Sabah is coming to a close. We enjoyed an afternoon of shopping and experiencing downtown Kota Kinabalu and tomorrow we will be doing some more sightseeing before heading to the airport. Hong Kong, here we come!